So, I did a juice cleanse earlier this week. And now I’m craving cookies. Cookies, cookies, cookies.
That’s how it’s supposed to work, right?
Well, since these cookies have peanut butter and banana in them, maybe that can at least partially count as health food. ;)
Actually, the inspiration for these tasty little cookies did come from a healthier source — this protein-packed Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie recipe. It was so good when I made it for breakfast, that I thought about re-making it for dessert after dinner. And then the idea occurred to me — why not translate it into a cookie?
I mean, everyone loves peanut butter and bananas when it comes to baking. So the idea seemed to have potential.
And sure enough, it was a winner. Here’s how to make them!
Start out with your basic cookie ingredients, plus a nice ripe banana and a bunch of peanut butter.
Mix up a simple dough, then form it into balls on a cookie sheet.
Use a fork to make the classic PB cookie criss-cross pattern if you’d like. Then sprinkle with a pinch of turbinado sugar (or granulated sugar). Bake ’em for about 8-10 minutes…
…the voila! These cute and easy little peanut butter banana cookies are yours to enjoy.
They are sweet but not too sweet. They are soft and chewy, especially when just out of the oven. And they basically taste like banana bread meets peanut butter cookies. Aka, peanut butter banana heaven.
Alright, run to your kitchen and make some already!
Peanut Butter Banana Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup creamy natural peanut butter (I used creamy natural from Trader Joe’s)
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup mashed banana (about 1 medium banana)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- (optional: cane sugar, for sprinkling)
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, cornstarch, salt, baking soda and cinnamon until combined. Set aside.
- In the (separate) bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add peanut butter, egg, banana, and vanilla, and continue mixing on medium speed until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl once if needed. Fold in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Measure out a rounded tablespoon-full of dough, roll it into a ball, then place on the baking sheet. Use a fork to press down the top of the ball and make a criss-cross pattern. Sprinkle with a pinch of cane sugar, if desired. Repeat with remaining dough.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes or until slightly golden around the edges. Cool for 10 minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Serve immediately or store in a sealed container for up to 1 week.
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
Literally the BEST peanut butter cookies ever. make them NOW. That is if you can get past the dough. It is that good. Sorry Grandma. This recipe is replacing yours.
Yuck……needs sugar!
Hi,
I don’t know if I just can’t find it or what, but I don’t see how many cookies this recipe makes. I want to make more than one batch but need to know how many one batch makes.
These were not very good. They were very dry and tasted mostly like banana. No peanut butter flavor at all. I’m disappointed.
They’re good, but the texture turned out like cake. Not anything like a cookie. I’m not sure what could have happened.
I bake all the time and followed the recipe exactly. I am very disappointed with these cookies. Its a shame cause with the flavor combinations I thoight they’d be amazing. I baked these in 3 seperate batches. The first batch didn’t look done at 8 min so i left them in for an additional 2min. They were dry. My 2nd batch i took out at 8min and they were still dry. 3rd batch took out at 7min….still dry. Even if they weren’t dry I still wouldn’t like them. These cookies are bland and definitely need more sugar. I even tried making a glaze to go on top just to sweeten it up a bit. The blandness of the cookie still came thru so the glaze didn’t help in the slightest. I will not be making these cookies again. Its a great idea, but just needs more tweeking for my taste.
Had a jonesing for some peanut butter banana cookies. These hit the spot. I made them vegan by using chia seeds and coconut oil in place of the eggs and butter. I also used mostly spelt flour and excluded the cornstarch because I didn’t have any. Next time I think I’ll leave out the oil altogether and just double the amount of peanut butter. The end result is a touch floury, the texture pretty cakey but I kind of like it. I think I would flatten them out a bit more to make them again. I’ve already had three though, so they’re pretty good.
I made these! Turned amazing, with a few adjustments from my side :)
I just made these and taste terrible. It’s more of a cake texture than a cookie. They don’t look at all like the picture. I did everything exact to the recipie. Threw entire batch in the garbage. Won’t make these again.
The dough was splendid. Lots of flavor. After baking, well.. a little crubly and cakey and less cookie but I’m not complaining.